February 2006 - Irish American News

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6 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS February 2006hMikeooliganismHoulihanThe handsome young actor trottedthrough the falling snow on 49th Street inManhattan and into St. Malachy’s Catholicchurch. In Gotham it was known asthe “actors chapel”. The dashing gentlemanthespian had been married thereonly a few years before this visit.Our hero was out of work and hada wife and two kids at home to feed,clothe, and educate. He was up againstit financially and he was once againquestioning the wisdom of his careerchoice in show biz. He was tapioca.He entered the vestibule and shookthe snow from his rugged shouldersAppearancesCutsColorPermsas he doffed his cap. It was a darkwinter afternoon and there were aboutten people scattered through the pewspraying. The church was warm andwelcoming, a refuge. A homeless guyslept in a pew in front of the statue ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary.The actor slid onto a kneeler andmade himself comfortable. He wasabout to engage God in a serious conversationabout his future, direction,and salvation. He folded his hands inprayer and asked, “Why can’t I makeany money in show biz, God?”The homeless guy snorted in hisFoil HighlightsWaxingGifts/Jewelry229 N Northwest Highway, Park RidgeCall Mary Today!847-825-7615sleep a few pews away. The actor lookedat him thinking, “That guy was probablyonce a great Shakespearian actor!”The homeless fella farted andsmacked his lips in his sleep, “Ahhforsooth.”Our hero glanced back to the crucifixand thanked the Lord for the gift oflaughter. He looked down into the pewin front of him and saw a small piece ofpaper lying out on the wooden seat. Hepicked it up and read the prayer.The Never Fail NovenaMay the Sacred Heart of Jesus bepraised, adored, and glorified now andforever throughout the whole world.Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I put mytrust in you. Holy Mary, mother ofJesus, pray for me. St. Theresa, child ofJesus, pray for me. St. Jude, Helper ofHopeless Cases, pray for me and grantthis favor I ask.Underneath the prayer was the followingnotation:Say this prayer nine times a day fornine days and publish. It has NEVERknown to fail. J.S.The young man looked around forwhoever left the message. Nobodywas paying any attention, the rest ofthem transfixed in their own reverie.Who was J. S? And what do theymean by “publish”?Could whomever left this messageon the pew consider that “publishing”?Well, actually it was in a way. The messagehad found it’s way to the youngman and he was reading it.Over the next nine days he carriedthe novena in his pocket and spoke theprayer in silence along with his request.He wasn’t asking to win the lottery. Hejust wanted to find his way.Pretty soon he had it memorizedand could be seen mumbling the NeverFail Novena as he nursed a beer in hisfavorite Ninth Avenue bar.He made copies of the prayer andleft them in the pews of St. Malachy’s.Those nine days soon turned into ninety,then nine years and then nineteen. Hehad survived and his family thrived. TheNever Fail Novena wasn’t said every day,it was only pulled out for nine day marathonswhen things began to look grim;when the tapioca got really lumpy.He often wondered, “Who is J.S.?”and conjectured that maybe it wasSt. Jude.” Maybe his last name wasSullivan?”St. Jude supposedly became the patronsaint of hopeless cases because somany folks were confused by his name,it sounded too much like Judas. So nobodywanted to pray to dread Judas andjust to be on the safe side, they didn’tbother with Jude either. So he beefed toGod, “What’s the point of been’ a saintif nobody asks me for help?”New Face in Irish RadioThe Good Morning Ireland radioshow was founded by John Gurhy overfive years ago to highlight issues ofimportance to the Chicago Irish Communityand to help Irish people livingGod said, “You are hopeless. Hey,that’s it; you can be the patron saint of allthe hopeless cases, the long shots. AndI’ll throw in patron saint of cops too!”God and Saint Jude then cooked upthe Never Fail Novena for those longshot sinners. God said, “We’ll make itpay off in nine days!’Jude looked at the prayer and said toGod, “Who is J.S.? John Smith?”God said, “Just Somebody.”The Never Fail Novena never failsto test your faith. The blessings youreceive are in direct proportion to yourbelief. Put Jesus, his blessed mother, St.Theresa and St. Jude on your bench andyour gonna have a pretty good fourthquarter, no matter what the game.The actor and his family continuedto thrive. He kept the Never Fail Novenaas the mightiest arrow in his quiver ashe aged. He eventually published itofficially in an Irish newspaper yearslater. It has never failed him.Just somebody is spreading the word.Check it out, The Never Fail Novenapays off in nine days.Mike Houlihan is currently in preproductionon his film “Tapioca”. Formore information go to www.mikehoulihan.com.from cross channel soccer! The showalso features a wide selection of musicfrom all facets of Irish music. There’s agood collection of music and requestsfrom listeners is not only welcomed– it’s encouraged. If there’s somethingin Chicago keep in touch with news andsporting events back home. RecentlyJohn moved back to his native Sligoafter a 19 year stint in the U.S. but theradio show he founded continues to airwith a new host Sean Ginnelly, a nativeof Castlebar, Co. Mayo, on Saturdays1-3pm on 1450 AM WCEV.The Good Morning Ireland show’sformat which includes a mixture ofnews, sports, music and more remainsintact. Our motto is “Don’t mess withsuccess”. Eileen Magnier reports thenews LIVE from Ireland each week.Covering all major sporting events,Tommy Marren provides a LIVE weeklyupdate on all sporting matters fromIreland. Tune in for all that days resultsyou’d like to hear, chances are we’ll haveit and if we don’t we’ll definitely makea good stab at trying to get our handson it for the next show. Our goal is tostrike a balance by providing a good mixof news, sports, music and other issuesof topical interest, while keeping thecontent interesting, relevant, beneficialand of course entertaining!The show is currently looking fornew advertisers and sponsorship. If youwould like to become an advertiser orsponsor in any shape or form, contactSean at irishradio1450@yahoo.com orcall 224-715-8292.The Studio line is 773-777-1450 andthe show airs on Saturdays 1-3pm on1450 AM WCEV
February 2006 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS 7Remembering the Hunger StrikeBy Bill ChambersThis is the first in a monthly series of articles commemorating the 25thanniversary of the hunger strike. Next month’s article will include areview of the new biography of Bobby Sands, by Denis O’Hearn, Nothingbut an Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands, the Irish Hunger Striker WhoIgnited a Generation, and will also cover the impact of the hungerstrike on Irish politics – from the growth of Sinn Fein after Bobby Sandselection, to the IRA cessation of activity and the struggle to restart theGood Friday Agreement institutions in the north.In coming months, other articles will cover the relevance of the hungerstrike to current events in U.S. politics (the US/UK extradition treaty,new immigration laws, treatment of political prisoners, ex-prisonersprevented from visiting the U.S., and the active Irish-Americandeportations cases); interviews with activists at the protests in the U.S.during the hunger strike; profiles of the hunger strikers themselves;and coverage of commemorations in Chicago (the Irish Northern Aidcommemoration for Bobby Sands in May, the national convention inSeptember of the Irish American Unity Conference centered on thehunger strike and its aftermath, and the city-wide commemoration inthe fall).There was a time when heroes gave birth to new nations. In our currentclimate of political prisoners often being nameless, faceless, and lockedaway in secret prisons, this series will again give these Irish heroesnames, faces, and histories. The year 2006 will be when the Irish aroundthe world have the opportunity to bring about what Bobby Sands hopedfor - the rising of the moon.“If they aren’t able to destroy the desirefor freedom, they won’t break you.They won’t break me because the desirefor freedom and the freedom of the Irishpeople is in my heart. The day will dawnwhen all the people of Ireland will havethe desire for freedom to show. It is thenwe’ll see the rising of the moon.”Bobby Sands’ last journal entry3/17/81The Irish Republican hunger strikeended twenty-five years ago this year, afterten hunger strikers died in Long Kesh.Resistance had begun four-and-a-halfyears earlier when the British governmentended special category status forthe Republican prisoners in an attempt tostrip them of their political standing andtreat them as ordinary criminals.On September 15, 1976, KieranNugent was the first prisoner sentencedunder this new regimen. Kieran refusedto wear prison clothes Instead he chosea blanket, thereby launching the “blanketprotest” that was to involve over300 prisoners in Long Kesh and in theArmagh women’s jail.A first hunger strike by twenty-threeprisoners, begun in October of 1980,was called off after fifty-three daysbecause the strikers believed the Britishhad agreed to their demands. In actuality,the British reneged on the agreementwith the strikers to supply them theirown clothes, one of their key demands.The second and final hunger strike,led by Bobby Sands, began on March 1,1981, (the fifth anniversary of the endingof special category status) with this statementfrom the Republican prisoners:“We, the Republican Prisoners ofWar in the H-Blocks, Long Kesh, demand,as of right, political recognitionand that we be accorded the status ofpolitical prisoners. We claim this rightas captured combatants in the continuingstruggle for national liberation andself-determination. We refute moststrongly the tag of ‘criminal’ withwhich the British have attempted tolabel us and our struggle, and we pointto the divisive partitionist institutionsof the six counties as thesole criminal aspect ofthe current struggle....”The Republicanprisoners had five demands:1. The right not to weara prison uniform2. The right not to doprison work3. The right of free associationwith otherprisoners4. The right to organizetheir own educationaland recreational facilities5. The right to one visit,one letter and one parcelper weekIn the end, thesesimple demands wouldprove too much for the British to concede- until three days after the strike hadended and ten men had lost their lives.On April 9, 1981, Frank Maguire,then Independent Member of Parliamentfor Fermanagh / South Tyrone, died.Bobby Sands’ election to replace him asMP representing the National H-BlockCommittee was a stunning defeat tothe British criminalization policy, withwhich they had hoped to separate theIrish Republicans from the support oftheir community. Two months later, theBritish response to this stunning defeatwas to publish proposals to change theRepresentation of the People Act makingit impossible for prisoners to standas candidates for election to Parliament.However, in the south of Ireland on June11, nine prisoners stood in the generalelection. Paddy Agnew in Louth, andKieran Doherty in Cavan/Monaghan,were elected to the Dail.With the momentum of an internationalsolidarity movement that onlyaccelerated upon Bobby Sands’ deathon May 5, 1981 (that saw more over100,000 people in Belfast), there wereBROYLES LAW OFFICEImm i g r at i o n an d Nat i o n a l i t y La w3435 North Sheffield Avenue, Suite 206Chicago, IL 60657tel 773.348.3101 Fax 773.348.3181beth@broyleslawoffice.comwww.broyleslawoffice.comExperienced attorney providingquality representation at competitive pricesprotests around the world during thehunger strike. Supporters of Republicanprisoner rights burned down theBritish Embassy in Dublin, dockworkersin Boston refused to load Britishships, and activists in Chicago replacedthe British flag over the consulate withthe Tri-Color, in the dead of night.Months passed. Ultimately, ninemore brave prisoners proudly succumbedto the same painful death,shored up by support from their familiesand communities:Francis Hughes May 12, 1981Patsy O’Hara May 21, 1981Raymond McCreesh May 21, 1981Joe McDonnell July 8, 1981Martin Hurson July 13, 1981Kevin Lynch August 1, 1981Kieran Doherty August 2, 1981Tom McElwee August 8, 1981Micky Devine August 20, 1981All came to an end on October 3,1981, with six men still on strike, certaintheir families would request medicalintervention to save them. The laststatement of the Republican prisonersdescribed a world where many hadfailed them. As expected, the Britishgovernment refused their demands– Maggie Thatcher’s government onlyrepeating in actions her words of “crimeis crime is crime, it is not political.”The strikers expected at least somesupport from the Irish establishment.4701 We s t 63r d St r e e t Ch ic a g o773.767.43537959 We s t 159th St r e e t Ti n l e y Pa r k708.633.7500Ma d e Fr e s h Da i ly:Ir i s h Sa u s a g eBl a c k Pu d d i n gWh it e Pu d d i n gSo d a Br e a dBa c o nCo r n Be e fSm o k e ButtsInstead they found none:“Another facet of this hunger strikewas to expertly expose the true face ofthe present Irish Establishment, consistingof the Catholic Church, the Dublingovernment and the SDLP.”Groups responsible for human rights- the International Red Cross and the EuropeanCommission on Human Rights- could not or would not stop ten menfrom dying and the very basic prisonerdemands from being denied. But onegroup had not failed them: the peopleof Ireland and their supporters aroundthe world. After all, Bobby Sands hadbeen elected MP. When Owen Carron,his campaign manager, was elected toreplace him after his death, he receivedeven more votes. With this election, SinnFein began a long series of election victoriesthat would bring them to the doorof that same Dublin government that hadnot found the spirit to support the hungerstrikers twenty-five years earlier.The inexorable movement towarda united Ireland had been launched inthat darkest hour when the Republicanprisoners called off their strike after tenof their comrades had died. At that momentthe new line of Irish heroes wascreated – extending from Emmet, WolfTone, Pearse, and Connolly – our Irishpatriot dead who will not be at peaceuntil the Irish people once again havethat desire for freedom.WinstonsFu l l Li n e o fIm p o r t e d Fo o d s*****************Product Availableat Fine Irish ShopsAll Over ChicagolandWE SHIP UPSanywhere in the U.S.Ma k i n g Fi n e Ir i s h Sa u s a g e f o r o v e r 40 Ye a r s!Fo r Th e Fi n e st in Di n i n g Tr yAshford HouseRestaurantFo r t h e Ve r y Be s t in Ir i s h CuisineSt e a k s • Ch o p s • Pa s ta7959 We s t 159th St r e e t Ti n l e y Pa r k708.633.7600w w w .w i n s t o n s m a r k e t.c o m
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